Frankie Boyle: Israel is apartheid, terrorist

After a series of complaints, the BBC apologised for “any offence” it may have caused listeners and admitted it breached editorial guidelines.

Responding to the decision, Mr Boyle criticised the BBC and said: “The Trust’s ruling is essentially a note from their line managers. It says that if you imagine that a state busily going about the destruction of an entire people is fair game, you are mistaken. Israel is out of bounds.

“The BBC refused to broadcast a humanitarian appeal in 2009 to help residents of Gaza rebuild their homes. It’s tragic for such a great institution but it is now cravenly afraid of giving offence and vulnerable to any kind of well drilled lobbying.

“The situation in Palestine seems to be, in essence, apartheid. I grew up with the anti-apartheid thing being a huge focus of debate. It really seemed to matter to everybody that other human beings were being treated in that way. We didn’t just talk about it, we did things, I remember boycotts and marches and demos all being held because we couldn’t bear that people were being treated like that.”

He also described a film he had seen about life in Palestine where a doctor accused the audience of doing nothing to help.

“I cried at that and promised myself that I would do something,” he said. “Other than write a few stupid jokes, I have not done anything. Neither have you.”